Blackboard Essentials

Fall 2006

101 ways to access Blackboard• Type http://blackboard.bethel.edu in your

browser window: the logical foolproof way• Find it in the quicklinks of:

– http://www.bethel.edu – http://bethelnet.bethel.edu/

• In the side menu of http://bethelnet.bethel.edu/cas-faculty/

• 96 other ways yet to be tabulated

The Bb entry page

Logging in

• Log in with your bethel username and password.

The "My Blackboard Page"

• Shows all your activity in Blackboard: courses you teach, courses you are taking etc.

The My Blackboard view

My course is not showing there!

• Use the Course Creator Tool to create your course.

How to access the course creator tool• Go to

http://blackboard.bethel.edu/webapps/course-creator/index.jsp

• There is a link to the creator tool on the Bb entry page

• If you are inside Bb, click on the question mark in the top space, a link to the course creator is in the left margin of the page that opens.

How do I work in my course?

• In the "My Bb view", click on your course's title

• The page opens to the "Course view"

The Course View

• Note the "Control Panel" button.That is thecontrol centerof your course.

The "Control Panel" view

To add material

• Go to one of the content areas in the control panel

Content page format

• All pages to add content are formatted in the same way.

• To add a document you have saved, choose "add item"

Adding a document

• In the page that opens:

• After choosing name and color, adding notes or description as indicated

• Click on the "browse" button and find your file, name the link, and then

• Scroll all the way down and SUBMIT

BE SURE TO SUBMIT

• Until you do, Bb won't know you have done anything

How do I put students in my course?• Bethel's Grand Wizard does this for you

automatically as soon as the student– Is registered– Has created a Bethel account

• You can add students manually via the control panel also (should you want to add a colleague as a student.

NEVER

• Never make one of your students into a TA for that course

• It will immediately destroy all of the student's scores for the class

There is much more

• Read the rest of the Bb essentials

• Come to a workshop

• Call or e-mail one of us

• Come by our offices

• Go to the IC desk in the library on Aug 31